


you drew stars (around my scars)

by hopelessrdj



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25805050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessrdj/pseuds/hopelessrdj
Summary: When one becomes a sorcerer supreme they’re presented with one rule: you shall only age on days that you are happy.And as Stephen looks into the mirror, having barely aged a day, he wonders if he didn’t underestimate the amount of pain his new position would bring him.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 11
Kudos: 119





	you drew stars (around my scars)

**Author's Note:**

> this started because of an instagram prompt that said "you look at the genie and wish you could only age on happy days. that was over 100 years ago and you barely aged a day"
> 
> non canon compliant at all. for the sake of this story Stephen is older than Tony and he is a sorcerer before Afghanistan

Love is not in the job description for a Sorcerer Supreme. But pain is. And sadness. And sorrow. And more duties than a single person should be expected to have.

From time to time Stephen would wonder if he made the right choice. If maybe, just maybe he would have been better taking off immediately after he learned how to heal his hands. Coming back to saving lives as if nothing ever happened. 

  
But he found a purpose didn’t he? The greater good, he used to say. But was the price worth paying?

  
He was fourty-two by the time the elders offered him to become the next Sorcerer Supreme. He regained his health and started slowly but surely coming back into the operating room, feeling more confident than he ever had.

  
But it wasn’t fulfilling enough anymore. Saving one life knowing he could be saving dozens if he just came back to Kamar-taj. He was offered a choice. A chance to become greater than he ever thought he would. For a small price of only aging on the days he was truly, unmistakeably happy.

  
It sounded like a fair trade at first. He was content with his life, fairly happy even, he would say. But as he kept going from dimension to dimension spending weeks and months and years there and coming back to the same exact face staring back at him from his small mirror in Nepal he found himself wondering if he was ever going to be happy again

  
He was 104 years old now, despite still looking like a forty-two years old neurosurgeon from Nebraska. On earth barely a month passed by since he agreed to take the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme but for him it might have been a millennium as well.

  
He was torn and broken, his soul worn out and tired and more often than not he found himself wondering if he made the right choice. What if he was never going to be happy again. What if he will end up outliving the earth and everyone he knew and loved would cease to exist but he will still be there battled and bruised and still looking like he did the day he swore an oath.

  
This was not the kind of live he thought he was ready to lead.  
When he could he kept visiting the hospital. Operating on the patients once considered hopeless used to bring him joy and a sense of fulfilment and maybe in a way they still did. But it wasn’t happiness.

  
He found himself staring at Christine, the only person dear to him, and looking for the first signs of aging. Of her days growing short while his remained the same despite his pleas.

  
She knew about him becoming a sorcerer, about magic in his veins and the power in his bones. But he couldn’t tell her about the oath. Wouldn’t bear the sad look on her face as the realisation hits her. Instead he promises himself he will look for an aging charm to put on himself for his best friends' eyes to see.

  
She's happy and he refuses to be the reason this gorgeous smile will disappear. So when she asks him to join her on a medical gala next week he agrees. Simple life pleasures. Maybe he could still have those.

  
Time keeps passing by and he's 112 now, when he comes back from the Nightmare dimension, a little bit more damaged, hopeless, with his eyes unfocused. Every muscle in his body aching making him feel every single one of the years he has lived through.

  
But when he looks in the mirror he still looks the same. From the calendar on his wall an angry red circle with the date stares at him reminding the sorcerer that he has one more duty before he's allowed to collapse. The medical gala.

  
So he puts on a black velvet suit and checks himself in the mirror whole the cloak, disguised as a scarf, tightly wraps itself around his throat. He looks good, he knows he does. And young, so much younger than he feels.

  
He drives himself and Christine to the gala, the operations he allowed himself to come back to after healing his hands paying off nicely and allowing him to slowly but surely come back to the lifestyle he used to have with marvellous apartments and fast cars. Only difference being, they didn’t bring the happiness anymore.

  
He parks and opens the doors for her then offers his arm as they walk towards the entrance. It’s been a while since he's been in a place as crowded as this one. There's a hint of sorrow as he realises he no longer belongs. Not there, not with them, not after everything he saw.

  
They dance twice and drink their respective drinks, hers a sweet champagne, his non-alcoholic. He does not see the appeal anymore.

  
He sits through her speech and feels proud of the person she has become. People keep photographing her and asking follow up questions and he knows she deserves every second of the attention she gets.

  
But his shifts somewhere else. More to the left where a man in a deep burgundy suit walks in through the entrance, making the aura of the entire place shift. He walked around with a bounce in his step, self confidence dripping off of him as he kept shaking hands without having to introduce himself.

  
And Stephen was drawn to him like a moth to the flame as if something was tying him to the man. He couldnt contain himself. His eyes seemed glued to this magnificent man who was so close yet so out of his reach and when their eyes met there was an obvious shiver running down his spine.

  
This one single glance made Stephen feel more emotions than he did for the last dozens of years spend in other dimensions hand. Reluctantly he focused his gaze on the glass once again, tapping his manicured fingers on the marble counter.

  
“come here often” he hears a voice and turns around to face the most beautiful man he's ever seen. His eyes the colour of honey, his skin sun kissed and smile blinding

  
“try to catch your flings with the same line often?’ he answered and sipped on his drink

  
“touche” the man said putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender “but the question remains. They all do seem to know you”

  
“i would be offended if they didnt. Half of them uses my technique” he says and raises one eyebrow “Stephen Strange”

  
“Tony Stark, a pleasure to meet you stranger” he said as they shook hands “care to share what the technique is?”

  
They fell into easy conversation about science and medicine, their lifestyles and futures and Stephen would lie if he said he wasn’t drawn to that magical aura of confidence Tony had around him. The magnetic energy that made every head in the room turn towards him and crave his attention. But it was only for Stephen to have tonight as the caramel eyes kept looking him up and down like he was a piece of art hanging in a private gallery only for Tony's eyes to see.

  
“so... brains cutting? Wonder what else are those hands good for” he said nonchalantly and looked at Stephen as if he was a prey about to get caught 

  
It was an obvious invitation and Stephen was willing to accept it when Christine’s filigree but steady hand fell on his shoulder, tiredness obvious on her beautiful face.

  
Maybe he wasn’t meant to take that offer, he thought as he excused himself. Before coming back to his apartment he dropped Christine off and thanked her for the evening offering a small smile and a promise to see each other soon.  
He'd lie if he said he didn’t have a good time. Having to end the evening so soon left a bitter taste on his tongue but he was not going to complain. Love in the end was not in the job description for a Sorcerer Supreme. Neither was fun, nor happiness.

  
But when he started stripping down on his way to the bathroom he felt something in the pocket of the suit jacket. A business card it seemed, with neatly written ‘Anthony Edward Stark, Stark Industries' followed with a number.

  
And when he looked up at himself in the mirror he saw a single strand of silvery grey hair sitting on his temple.

  
He feels guilty the first time he calls. Like he doesn’t deserve it. Like he's only allowed to be the Sorcerer Supreme now and Stephen Strange is just some distant memory, an echo of the past pushed to the back of his mind, repressed almost forgotten.

  
But when he's with Tony he doesn’t feel distant. He's grounded and focused and fully in the moment. And he feels so many emotions at once he can’t even name them.

  
There are small touches and intimate gazes, sarcastic comments and small smiles only for him. And he feels seen. Not as a powerful sorcerer. But as a neurosurgeon from Nebraska, with a brilliant mind and a sharp tongue. 

  
And despite his better judgement he keeps coming back. For galas, for expos, for stolen kisses and longing stares, beautiful hotel rooms and quick meetings in cars. And he doesn’t regret a single one.

  
Time flies by and he's 192 now but the years don’t leave as much dread in him as they used to. He looks 44 now and his temples are covered in grey hair which he doesn’t try to cover at all.

  
They spend his birthday together and Tony whispers in his ear about how much he adores running his fingers through through his silvery locks and they kiss till the early morning hours.

  
They’re out in public now and Stephen is happy, oh so happy, he could almost forget his Sorcerer Supreme duties.

  
He knows he won’t. But when he looks at Tony’s sleeping figure lying in the saturated early morning light he almost feels like nothing else matters anymore.

  
He runs his fingers down his spine and earns a soft sigh from his lover. He grabs his hand and kisses his palm snuggling in like a cat looking for warmth and Stephen thinks he could lie like this forever.

  
It's moments like this that remind him of his only fear. Tony's mortality. Because he is the only reason he’s happy. And what if he dies. And leaves Stephen, older by a few years he gained thanks to the happiness this relationship brought him, but once again alone in the world. Miserable, lonely, sorrowful. Not aging a single day anymore.

  
And he's so grateful that he met Tony when he was only 32, younger than himself by over 10 years, because there’s no way he could die before him, right? He's young and healthy and rich and Stephen is older than him, his life much more dangerous. 

  
So maybe, just maybe, he'll get to have a long eventful life and die in his old age with the man he loves, so he could preserve the happiness and slowly age by his side.  
It's that simple, he thinks. And then reality catches up to him in the worst way possible.

  
He's in another dimension when Afghanistan happens. He's 203 now and everything he can think of is coming back to the only thing that brings him joy: Tony.

  
But he's not in their apartment and his phone is dead and when he calls Pepper instead all he gets is a sob and a quiet ‘Oh, Stephen. He’s gone'

  
He turns on the news and what he sees makes his blood boil Tony’s face in every news channel, talking about his kidnapping, possibility of him being dead.

  
And he wants to scream and kill and revenge and get this wonderful delicate man he loves out of that cave. And the worst part is that he knows he has the power to do so without anyone being able to stop him

  
But he's a sorcerer supreme. He can’t. And he won’t. He refuses to interfere.

  
So he waits. And waits. And waits.

  
And when the news finally reach him of Tony coming back he’s so happy he sheds a tear. The happiness he feels as he wraps his arms around him on the airport is so overwhelming he can feel himself aging a year. But he can’t bring himself to care.

  
And when they come back home it’s there, right in the middle of his forehead. The first fine line he ever had.

  
Tony makes a light-hearted joke about worry not being good to him and making him age, even though he does it like a fine wine. Little does he know it's not exactly the case.

  
Stephen proposes a week later and when he hears the quiet “yes” he really thinks they may actually make it through.

  
He looks at himself in the mirror, as he ages again and realises maybe he won’t have as much time as he thought he would. Maybe, just maybe, the happiness Tony gives him is so strong it’s worth more than just a day of his life. But surprisingly, he's fine with it.

  
He's almost 300 years old now and he's married. To Tony Stark, to Iron Man, To Earth's greatest defender. And he told him about his duties, as a Sorcerer Supreme.

  
They know their days are numbered, their time is short. But they fight side by side now and make the best of what they have.

  
And Stephen is so happy, but for the first time he sees the flaw in his previous thinking. He's over physically over 50 now and Tony is reaching his 40s and he starts noticing the huge gap that lies between them and he thinks about the time he'll leave Tony alone when he sooner or later inevitably dies.

  
They talk about it and they know they’re be okay. That what matter is what they have now and the years they’ve already shared. 

  
Despite their worries they live through another 10 long years during which they adopt and raise a daughter, beautiful blue eyes princess named Donna, she's six by the time they found each other but the love they share is ethereal. Another 10 years pass and she’s 26 now and getting married and Stephen never though he'd live long enough to see it.

  
He's reaching 450 by the time he thinks his end may be near. He informs the elders and they release him from his duties.  
He's 71 now physically and they’re living in their lake house now free of their duties and dirty cheats of the world. And he thinks if he died now he would be content.

  
He's happy and aging slowly, day by day. And when he visits Kamar-taj one more time one of the students asks him if he's sorry that he couldn’t live even longer. That he gave up his longevity for simple pleasures of human life

  
But how could he be sorry? He has never been and never will be. Cause Tony is worth more than anything else the world could offer him.


End file.
